Crash
by WaltzThroughTheForest
Summary: Punk!Percy, Girly!Annabeth, Hipster!Leo, Preppy!Nico. AU. There is no Camp Half-Blood, nor Camp Jupiter. Post-Apocalyptic.
1. Chapter 1

"They ever figure out what caused the toilets to go off?"

"Nope. You're the smart one. Figure it out."

"I really have no idea."

The seniors of 2013 at Evensong High School had the most interesting last day ever – every single toilet simultaneously went off, spouting water which lasted for five minutes.

"Well, there must have been some cause."

"Let's go to Forever 21 and get you a dress."

"Ack – no! No dresses." The girl who proclaimed this was wearing old jeans and a weird red t-shirt with a mustached man and the word _pizza_. Her glasses were too big for her face. Her hair was pulled into a loose ponytail, with a few strands falling out. She and her friend were at the mall a little late.

"Oh, come on!" the other girl begged – a blonde in a blue and white chiffon dress and two inch heels.

"Annabeth!"

"Please, Piper!"

"You know…I thought I saw a new book on architecture over in Barnes and Noble. Something about the Greeks."

For barely a second Annabeth's eyes glazed over and then they cleared. "Oh, fine!"

The next hour or so slipped away as Annabeth poured over books on architecture and Piper hid in a certain young adult author's section.

Night had already fallen and clouds were drifting across the sky, but neither girl's father regarded their absence. It was closing time when the girls finally left the mall and headed towards Annabeth's car.

A drop of rain plucked Piper on the nose. "I'm not sure I trust you to drive in the rain."

"Oh, shut up. We'll be fine."

They were barely in the car when the rain let loose. It was the worse kind, violently pelting against the windshield as though it was rocks and not water. Annabeth turned up the windshield wipers, but she couldn't manage to see a thing.

"Are we stuck?" Piper asked a little nervously.

Annabeth groaned. "Yep. But it shouldn't last long. I mean, there can't be that much rain."

Ten minutes passed. Then fifteen. A half-hour. Music played from the radio until Annabeth lost her patience and switched it to the news.

"Severe rain won't stop until early morning. Reports of tornados are happening frequently across the states. Several earthquakes have just occurred in Japan. Stay inside, and keep-"

Annabeth and Piper stared at each other as a beep interrupted the newscast. Somewhere close, a sound like that of a train could be heard.

* * *

Piper and Annabeth weren't aware of what was happening much longer. As the radio declared a tornado warning, cars around them began to lift and spin, and then they themselves were taken up into the great whirl and were knocked unconscious.

And so, Piper and Annabeth missed the entire apocalypse.

Not that they would have realized what was going on if they were awake. For Kronos had risen the titans and was tearing the world to pieces.

The history of the world moved in eras and the titans believed it was the next era, and they were almost right. For the world could only have truly been saved if demigods fought alongside their parents – but there was no Camp Half-Blood or Jupiter, and the demigods did not know they were demigods. And the world was almost entirely destroyed.

But a single boy was aware of his powers, and that single boy was quickly seized by his father, and he was just enough to destroy Kronos.

It was almost too late. Everything was destroyed in a matter of hours. There was nothing but ruins of buildings and ten percent of the entire population left. Electricity was no longer working, nor running water.

Annabeth and Piper awoke to a destroyed world.


	2. Chapter 2

Annabeth opened her eyes slowly. Her entire body was hurting, there was something sticky on her face, and she was barely held to her seat by her seatbelt, the car completely upside down. It was early morning, the sun just reaching the sky. "Piper?"

She turned just enough to look and see Piper was still unconscious. Blood was dripping down her face.

She fumbled for her seatbelt and released it, dropping against the ceiling. She stopped and breathed for a long moment.

"Piper," she said again, and crawled over to undo her seatbelt. The girl fell like a ragdoll onto Annabeth's legs. "Piper."

She tried shaking her before pushing her fingers into the crook of her neck. She held her breath, awaiting the pulse between her finger tips.

She pulled her fingers away. She couldn't feel anything. She almost choked, surging forward to press her ear against Piper's chest.

There it was.

It was slow and slight, but Piper's heart still beat.

"Okay, okay," she chanted to herself. She crawled to the door and after several minutes of struggling, opened it.

She stood outside in the sunlight, staring out. "Oh, god."

Buildings were fallen in rubble. Cars were scattered. And there were a lot of unmoving bodies. Way too many.

She ran her hands through her hair. "Just focus."

Her mind turned to her father – was he still alive? And then she pushed the thought from her head. She needed to find help for Piper.

She ran three steps before stopping and yanking off her high heels, tears starting to stream down her face. And then she broke into a full run, towards the nearest building that was still standing.

It was what used to be a coffee shop. The windows were blown out, the tables were flipped, there was debris everywhere. Three bodies.

Annabeth steadied her self against the wall. She didn't know why it stayed standing. But it didn't matter – this would be a good place to rest, like a homebase. Chances are their homes were destroyed. She was going into survival mode.

And then, she heard the faintest clink from farther in the shop, in the kitchen that was closed off.

"Is anyone there?" she called out nervously.

A louder noise and then silence. And the silence lasted for what felt like an hour before the door to the kitchen opened and someone stepped out cautiously.

He was tall, and blonde, and really, really handsome – Annabeth cursed herself for thinking of that in a time like this.

They stared at each other for a long moment before Annabeth finally spoke.

"Please, my friend is still unconscious back in my car, I don't even know what's going on…"

"Then let's go get her."

His voice was smooth and strong and confident and reassuring and she released a breath. If anyone was going to protect them, this was the right guy. She nodded and turned around and ran, and could hear him following.

Piper was still unconscious. The boy ducked into the car and grabbed her under the arms and pulled her out. He carefully picked her up in a fireman's carry. "Back to the coffee shop?"

Annabeth nodded and they hurried back.

The boy laid her out on the floor and then walked out of sight – before returning with a hoodie, which he wrapped up and stuck under her head. Annabeth didn't want to know where the hoodie came from.

He approached Annabeth and held out his hand. "I'm Luke." He smiled encouragingly.

She took his hand. "I'm Annabeth."

"Good. Good. What do you know of what's happened?"

She shrugged nervously and hugged herself. "I mean, the radio was talking about tornadoes and earthquakes and there was so much rain… I think we were picked up by the tornado. It's a miracle we survived."

He nodded. "I don't know much either. I can't find any source of electricity. You're the first living person I've found. But… I just think, help should have already arrived, if help would ever come."

Annabeth stared at him. "You mean… you think the entire world…"

He nodded.

She shook her head. "This can't be all that's left of the entire world."

"There are other survivors, I'm sure. Places that are still standing. Just a lot less than there used to be… Do you know anything about your family?"

She shook her head. The pain hit for the first time. "I'm not very close to my father, but…"

"It's all right. I understand. We could go looking for him – or we could stay here and fend for ourselves a little while. Scavenge, search for some kind of way to set up a radio signal…"

"What about your family?"

He shuffled uncomfortably. "I don't really have a family."

"Oh. Sorry."

"No, it's cool."

"I guess we should just stay here for now…"

"Not too concerned about your father?

"I mean… I'm sure he can take care of himself if he's still… and if he's not…I guess I don't want to know."

He nodded. "Yeah. All right. Let's get to work."

"Work" was possibly the most traumatizing event in Annabeth's life. She'd rather have spent ten hours in that car in the tornado than done this.

They were searching the bodies. Luke told her to take everything she found – jackets, belts, wallets, money, electronic devices – and bring them back to the coffee shop.

They moved separately in a wide arc around the shop until night was approaching, and then they returned and sought to organize their findings.

"Why do we need so many belts?" Annabeth asked.

"Never know when you might need to tie stuff together… Why do you think the cellphones aren't working?"

"I don't know. They should still have power left in their batteries. All the rain could have destroyed them, or maybe there was some kind of electrical surge. You think money matters anymore?"

"If the world is still existing and just not sending help, then we definitely need money. If the world is all like this…well, I don't know. They could still attach value to it, use it for trade. Or everybody could decided they didn't care about pieces of paper and metal and it won't matter. Best to be prepared for anything."

A soft groan could be heard and Annabeth jumped up and hurried to Piper. Piper opened her eyes. "What's going on?"

She sat up and looked around herself at the mess of a coffee shop. "What on Earth is happening?"

Annabeth hesitated. "We kinda suspect the world has ended."

Piper shook her head. "Not possible. Not at all. That can't happen. It doesn't work like that."

Luke shrugged. "That's what it looks like. I haven't seen any planes flying overhead, there is no sign of any help coming – and help would come for a disaster like this."

"But we made it. It can't be destroyed!"

"Well, we're some of the only people who made it from around here. That means other people made it too, but not many."

Piper's face was going pale. "That means most of everybody – possibly every single person I know is dead. Do you know how many people I know on the internet? What about the Gre – "

Luke put his hands up and interrupted her. "Don't think that much about it. Don't let your thoughts leave a mile radius – we have to worry about _us_ right now."

"Who are you anyway?" Tears were beginning to pool in the bottom of her lids.

"Luke." He extended a hand for a handshake, which she didn't accept.

"Piper," Annabeth murmured. "It's going to be okay."

"What about my dad?"

"We can find him later."

"What if we can't find him at all?"

"Piper – "

"And why are you so calm? What about everyone you know?"

"It's going to be okay. It has to be."

But Annabeth was struggling now too. Piper finally choked and burst into tears. The last thing Annabeth wanted to do was cry too – Luke might get a little freaked out by two hysterical girls.

"Everything's going to be fine," Luke said, his voice steady. "We just have to focus on protecting ourselves right now."

Somewhere outside, someone could be heard moving. The three stared at each other, and then their eyes went towards the entrance of the coffee shop.

A girl stared back at them. She wore a slightly torn cheerleading outfit. "Hi," she said confidently. "My name's Kelli."


End file.
